Four Nations Ensemble Sets 2017 Series at Merkin Hall

For the second year, the Four Nations Ensemble will make its home at Merkin Concert Hall to present three programs of chamber and vocal music by Bach and his contemporaries, from Handel to Couperin to Vivaldi. The programs, each on Monday evenings, will be held January 30, March 13, and May 8, 2017 at 8:00 PM.

Four Nations Ensemble members Andrew Appel, director and harpsichord; Pascale Beaudin, soprano; Olivier Brault and Tatiana Chulochnikova violin; Charles Brink, flute; and Loretta O'Sullivan, cello will be joined by guest artists Aaron Sheehan, tenor; Joshua Cohen, trumpet; and Joshua Lee viola da gamba.

This year's programs feature familiar Bach masterpieces including Cantata 51 Jauchzett Gott alongside Alessandro Scarlatti's Su le sponde del Tebro, the Bach harpsichord concerto in D minor alongside Vivaldi's moody and Spanish-inspired cello concerto in C minor. Bach's gamba and harpsichord sonatas will be juxtaposed with Concerts of Rameau and Couperin and Mondonville's avant garde sonatas for harpsichord and violin.

Single tickets to the Four Nations Ensemble's New York City concerts are $50.00. Discounted tickets in the amount of $25.00 are available on the evening of the concerts at the box office for students. Subscriptions to all three concerts are $125. Tickets and information can be obtained by phoning (212) 928-5708 or online at www.fournations.org. Tickets are also available at the Merkin Hall Box Office.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMS

THREE VIEWS ON J.S. BACH
THE FOUR NATIONS ENSEMBLE
Concert 1: BACH AND HANDEL
Monday January 30 at 8 PM

Andrew Appel, harpsichord and director; Pascale Beaudin, soprano; Olivier Brault and Tatiana Chulochnikova; violin, Charles Brink, flute; Kyle Miller, viola; Loretta O'Sullivan, cello Guest vocalist, Aaron Sheehan, tenor

Program:

Sonata for violin and continuo in D major, HWV 371 Handel

Sonata for violin and harpsichord in G, BWV 1019 Bach

Wo wird in diesem Jammerthale, tenor, flute and cont. BWV 114 Bach

Sweet Bird from L'Allegro, HWV 55 Handel

Sonata for flute and continuo in e minor, BWV 1034 Bach

Let me wander not unseen from L'Allegro Handel

So schnell for tenor, flute, violin and continuo, BWV 26 Bach

Entzücket uns beide Duo for soprano and tenor, BWV 208 Bach

Sonata for 2 violins and continuo in C major, HWV 386a Handel

Concert 2: BACH and THE ITALIANS
Monday March 13 at 8 PM
Andrew Appel, harpsichord and director; Pascale Beaudin, soprano; Olivier Brault and Tatiana Chulochnikova; violin, Henry Valoris, viola; Loretta O'Sullivan, cello; Anne Trout, violone
Guest artist: Joshua Cohen, Baroque trumpet

Program:

Concerto for harpsichord and strings in D minor, BWV 1052 J. S. Bach

Cantata 51 Jauchzett Gott for Soprano, trumpet and strings, BWV 51 J. S. Bach

Concert for cello and strings in c minor A. Vivaldi

Su le sponde del Tebro, cantata for soprano, trumpet and strings A. Scarlatti

Concert 3: BACH and the FRENCH
Monday May 8 at 8 PM
Andrew Appel, harpsichord and director; Olivier Brault, violin;
Loretta O'Sullivan, cello
Guest artist: Joshua Lee, viola da gamba

Program:

Septieme Concert F. Couperin

Sonatas in D major and G major for gamba and harpsichord, BWV 1027-1028 J. S. Bach

Sonata IV for violin and harpsichord in C major J. C. Mondonville Second Concert J. Ph. Rameau

Admission: $125 subscriptions $50 Regular $25 Students (212) 925-5708, www.fournations.org - fournationsinc@aol.com

Performance and education are the two missions for members of the Four Nations Ensemble, who have played concerts in major halls and festivals as well as on Early Music series around the United States and South America. Whether working with the finest of early music interpreters, leading modern orchestras into areas of stylistic playing on modern instruments, coaching young professionals, or introducing public school teachers and their students to great music and teaching them to see this music as a window into history, the Four Nations Ensemble has played a varied and important role in American chamber music over the last 3 decades. This year the Ensemble flourished with two art museum residencies at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA and The Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, CT. For both museums Four Nations creates programs to coordinate with both temporary exhibits and the Permanent Collections placing both the art and the music in context giving greater understanding and pleasure to both the eye and the ear.

Founded in 1986, the Four Nations Ensemble has established itself as one of New York's most imaginative early-music ensembles and is recognized for its adventuresome programming with invitations to play an active role in planning chamber music offerings at major festivals around the country. This year the Ensemble had released two CDs with Orchid Classics: Volume 1 of Francois Couperin's complete Pieçes de Claveçin and a recording of sonatas and trios of Jean Marie Leclair. The Ensemble recently released volume 2 of Couperin and the six cello sonatas, opus 5 of Francesco Geminiani.

Andrew Appel, Artistic Director of the Four Nations Ensemble, performs throughout Europe and the United States as soloist in many festivals including Italy's Spoleto Festival, New York's Mostly Mozart Festival, and the Redwoods Festival. As recitalist, Mr. Appel has performed at Carnegie and Avery Fisher Halls in New York, as well as halls from the Music Academy of the West to the Smithsonian in Washington DC. Besides his work with The Four Nations Ensemble, he has been a guest of Chatham Baroque, the Smithsonian Players, and Orpheus. He serves as harpsichordist for Opera Lafayette and has toured with several European chamber orchestras. He has enjoyed critical acclaim for his solo recording of Bach works with Bridge Records as well as his fortepiano performances of Haydn for ASV. He presently records for ASV and Smithsonian recordings.

As an educator, Appel has been called upon to create significant programs in arts education for elementary school students and professional development for teachers. Appel created a program linking the Amarillo Symphony to the public schools in that city, "Music makes the Difference." In Chatham, New York, Appel organized festivals of culture and history for third through sixth graders while instituting "salon discussions" between the teachers of Chatham and art curators, dance historians, musicologists, and arts journalists. Both programs have made significant additions to the lives of participating school communities. With Four Nations and funding from Chamber Music America, Appel has designed and run residencies in communities around the country with kindergarten through college students, most recently in St. Cloud, MN.

As a writer, Mr. Appel has written program notes and articles for presenters around the country including Lincoln Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and National Public Radio. Mr. Appel has participated in discussions on education and chamber music programming at conferences of Chamber Music America, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and the New York State Council on the Arts. He currently serves as President of the Board of Trustees of Chamber Music America. He has been regularly praised for pre-concert talks that contextualize the music and open areas of discovery for the audience.

A native of New York City, Appel discovered the harpsichord at 14 and began lessons with Tim Read and Igor Kipnis. First-prize winner of the Erwin Bodkey Competition in Boston, he holds an international soloist degree from the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp where he worked with Kenneth Gilbert and a Doctorate from the Juilliard School under Albert Fuller. There he has taught harpsichord and music history. Appel has also taught harpsichord, chamber music, music history and humanities courses at Moravian College, Princeton University, and New York Polytech, now a division of NYU.

Pascale Beaudin, the Canadian soprano started her operatic career at the Opéra de Montréal, singing roles such as Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and Oscar (Un ballo in maschera), Flora (The Turn of the Screw) and Flaminia (Il mondo della luna). In France, she appeared as Adèle (Le Comte Ory) and Flaminia (Il mondo della luna) at the Angers-Nantes Opera, Carmela (The Saint of Bleecker Street) at the Opéra municipal de Marseille, and Frasquita (Carmen) at the Opéra de Metz and the Opéra national de Lorraine. Ms. Beaudin recently made her American debut at Washington's Kennedy Center as Fleurdelise/Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte, in French) with Opera Lafayette, to rave reviews: "...singing her aria "Per pietà" (I didn't document the French translation) with such deliberate quiet elegance and restraint that it was a highlight not just of the evening, but also of my year"(The Washington Post). This production, along with Les femmes vengées by Philidor, was be presented at New York's Lincoln Center and the Opéra Royal de Versailles, and Les femmes vengées was recorded for release on the Naxos label. In a repertoire that spans from the Baroque to the Contemporary, Mrs. Beaudin collaborates with many orchestras, namely the Orchestre Métropolitain under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, l'Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and Yoav Talmi, Les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadie, I Musici de Montréal and Jean-Marie Zeitouni, the Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal, the McGill Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Francophonie and the Orchestre régional de Cannes. She recently recorded the complete songs of Francis Poulenc with pianist Olivier Godin for the Atma Classique label.

Charles Brink has been a member of the Four Nations Ensemble since 2001 performing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center and the Boston early Music Festival. His recording of Leclair flute sonatas, released in 2013 on Orchid Classics received unanimous critical acclaim. From 2006 to 2010 he lead The Grand Tour Orchestra, a period instrument ensemble dedicated to known and unknown masterpieces of mid-18 century music. Charles serves as dramaturg and musical assistant of the Bach Consort Wien. With a strong interest in music from the mid 18th century and a focus on the works of Jomelli, he has directed landmark performances in the influential Neapolitan's music in America and Vienna. Brink began his flute studies with Jacob Berg in his native St. Louis. He received his Master's Degree from the New England Conservatory and in 1993 Mr. Brink was a Fellow at the Tanglewood Festival. In 1995 he was awarded a Fulbright Grant to study with Wilbert Hazelzet at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, Netherlands where he earned certificates in both modern and historical flutes. Since devoting himself solely to historical flutes in 1998, he has toured and recorded with his own Bouts Ensemble, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Wiener Akademie and Les Nouveaux Caractères. In 2011 Charles Brink began studies at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien towards a PhD. His recordings can be heard on West German Radio, Middle German Radio, Dutch Radio and Television, Austrian Radio and the EMI, Raumklang (Germany), Fuga Libera (Belgium) and Orchid Classics (London) labels.

Olivier Brault from Terrebonne in Québec, brings a rare balance of excitement, enthusiasm, emotional intensity, informed scholarship, style and virtuosity to his performances throughout Canada, Europe and the United States. A master of both Baroque and Classical repertory he is director of the French music ensemble Sonate 1704, he leads as concertmaster the Apollo's Fire Cleveland's Baroque Orchestra and the ensemble Les Goûts Réunis in Luxembourg; he also performs as principal violin and soloist with many Montreal-based ensembles including the Ensemble Caprice, Les Boréades de Montréal, La Bande Montréal Baroque, the Quatuor Franz Joseph, Les Idées Heureuses, the Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, the ensemble La Nef and Les Voix Humaines. He has participated in more than sixty recordings on the Atma, Analekta, Avie, Teldec, earlymusic.com and XXI labels; many of them award-winning. A sought-after instructor, he leads workshops and masterclasses at major institutions including the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, McGill University, Case Western Reserve University, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Penn State University, University of Michigan and the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles.
He holds a Doctorate from the Université de Montréal, where he specialized in 18th-century French violin repertoire, earning a solid reputation of specialist in the field, and his exploration of historical performance have also led him to Baroque dance and theater.
He is a member of the Conseil Québécois de la Musique, of Culture Lanaudière, Équiterre and Greenpeace. In November 2011, Olivier Brault had received the medal of the Assemblée Nationale du Québec for his cultural contribution to his nation.

Tatiana Chulochnikova praised in the media for her 'dark plush romantic violin sound' (New York Concert Review) and 'thrilling technique and bravura style" (San Francisco Classical Voice) is pursuing an active career as a violin soloist and chamber musician with performances spanning throughout the United States. In addition to her work with the Four Nations Ensemble, in 2015-16 Tatiana appeared as a soloist and concertmaster with Washington Bach Consort, and the American Bach Soloists. In 2015 Tatiana has been named the winner of the Jeffrey Thomas Award 2016. This award is given annually to one musician of unusual promise and precocious achievement. As the winner, Ms. Chulochnikova performed series of concerts as a concerto soloist in American Bach Soloists' 2016 season playing E major violin concerto by J.S. Bach as well as her own historical reconstruction of the famous organ Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565). Tatiana's playing received highly enthusiastic reviews: it was described as 'finely articulated and assertive' with 'impressive brilliance'.
Born in Ukraine, Chulochnikova began playing violin at the age of 7 and made her professional debut at 14 playing Bruch's violin concerto with the Kharkov Philharmonic. Around the same time, her own Trio for violin, flute, and cello was awarded Second Prize at the International Young Composers Competition in Kiev. Chulochnikova received her professional training at the Tchaikovsky College of Music and Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. She also holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and the Juilliard School.
Tatiana Chulochnikova gave solo and chamber music recitals in the U.S, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, India, Ukraine and Russia. In the U.S. Tatiana performed in most major concert halls including Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center, Severance Hall. She also made a solo and chamber music debut at the Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2013.
Tatiana's upcoming engagements include solo recitals in New York City, Washington, DC, Annapolis, MD and Minneapolis, MN. Together with Four Nations Ensemble, Chulochnikova will appear at the Clark Museum, Kaufman Center's Merkin Concert Hall and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. As a concertmaster of Washington Bach Consort, Tatiana will lead ensemble's performances in Washington, DC. In the 2016-17 season Tatiana will also join American Bach Soloists in series of concerts in San Francisco Bay Area. Tatiana Chulochnikova is the founder of The Rubinstein Music Society - the organization which strives to promote classical music masterpieces of the Romantic Era from North America and Europe and to uncover the largely ignored romantic repertoire from Ukraine and Russia.

"Miss O'Sullivan is an agile, eloquent player" (New York Times), performing extensively on baroque, classical, and modern cello. As a member of the Four Nations Ensemble, she has appeared on the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center, and at the Kennedy Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Merkin Concert Hall, and the New York Historical Society, as well as at the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Festival of Arts and Ideas at Yale University, and Tema Culturais in Brazil. The ensemble has recorded for Gaudeamus and Orchid Classics. With the Haydn Baryton Trio and the Classical Quartet, she toured throughout Europe, and recorded with Dorian, Titanic, and Harmonia Mundi. She is cellist with the New York based Genzinger Quartet. Loretta has played continuo cello for many ensembles including Opera Lafayette, Florida Grand Opera, the New York Collegium, Aston Magna, the American Bach Soloists, the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, the Grand Tour, Artek, and The Washington Bach Consort. She frequently plays with the Orchestra of St. Luke's. Her performances for solo cello in recent years include the Bach Suites, her transcription of Heinrich Biber's Passacaglia, Gabrielli's Ricercar, Benjamin Britten's Third Suite, and "Junction of Tranquility and Fervor" with the Paul Taylor 2 Dance Company. In collaboration with Larry Lipkis, she gave a pre-concert lecture for Yo-Yo Ma's performance of the Bach Suites in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and has given master classes at Brooklyn College and the University of Iowa. Ms. O'Sullivan is on the faculty of Manhattan College and has coached Performance Practice at Rutgers University, and assisted in preparing Baroque cellists for a 2009 Masterclass with William Christie at The Julliard School of Music.

ABOUT THE GUEST ARTISTS

Aaron Sheehan, the American grammy award winning tenor established himself as a first rate singer in many styles. His voice is heard regularly in the United States, South America, and Europe, and he is equally comfortable in repertoire ranging from oratorio and chamber music, to the opera stage. His singing has taken him to many festivals and venues including; Tanglewood, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Washington National Cathedral, the early music festivals of Boston, San Francisco, Vancouver, Houston, Tucson, Washington DC, and Madison, as well as the Regensburg Tage Alter Musik. Known especially for his Baroque interpretations, his voice has been described by the Boston Globe as "superb: his tone classy, clear, and refined, encompassing fluid lyricism and ringing force" and the Washington Post praised his "Polished, lovely tone." In the concert world, Aaron has made a name as a first rate interpreter of the oratorios and cantatas of Bach and Handel. The San Diego Classical Voice said, "Tenor Aaron Sheehan performed the role of Evangelist, and sang with assured vocal and linguistic fluency, tasked with telling the audience the story while imparting its drama. In this regard, he was superb." He has appeared in Concert with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, North Carolina Symphony, New York Collegium, Charlotte Symphony, Boston Cecilia, Charleston Bach Festival, Baltimore Handel Choir, Les Voix Baroque, Pacific Chorale, Boston Early Music Festival, Tempesta di Mare, Aston Magna Festival, Bach Collegium San Diego, Washington National Cathedral, Pacific Music Works, Boston Museum Trio, Magnificat, Tragicomedia, the Folger Consort, and Concerto Palatino. On the opera stage, Aaron made his professional debut in 2005 as Ivan, in the Boston Early Music Festivals world premiere staging of Mattheson'sBoris Gudenow, a role in which Opera News praised his voice as "Sinous and supple". He has since worked with the company in leading roles such as L'Amour and Apollon in Lully'sPsyché, Actéon in Charpentier'sActéon, and as Acis in Handel'sAcis and Galatea. He also has worked on the opera stage with American Opera Theater and Intermezzo Chamber Opera in leading roles of operas by Cavalli, Handel, Weill, and Satie. Aaron also continues to work extensively in the chamber music world. He has sung with Theater of Voices, Blue Heron Choir, Tenet, Fortune's Wheel, La Donna Musicale, Folger Consort, Newberry Consort, Dünya, The Rose Ensemble, and the Pro Arte Singers. Aaron has appeared on many recordings, including the Grammy nominated operasThéséeandPsychéof Lully, recorded with BEMF on the CPO label. A native of Minnesota, Aaron holds a BA from Luther College and a MM in Early Voice Performance from Indiana University. He is currently on the voice faculties of Boston University, Wellesley College, and Towson University.

A native of the Washington, D.C. area, baroque trumpeter Josh Cohen is greatly sought after by many leading early music ensembles throughout North America. For the past nine seasons, Mr. Cohen has been principal baroque trumpet with the Washington Bach Consort. He has also performed as principal and solo baroque trumpet for ensembles such as Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, Arion (Montreal), Bach Sinfonia (Washington D.C.), Aston Magna (Boston), Musica Maris (Rhode Island), Houston Bach Society, Ensemble Telemann (Montreal), and participated in festivals such as the Indiana Festival of Early Music, International Festival of Baroque Music at Lameque (N.B. Canada) and the Bach Festival of Montreal. He has recorded some of the most famous and demanding works for baroque trumpet. Most recently, he recorded J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 with Montreal-based Ensemble Caprice. He can be heard in the Washington Bach Consort's recording of J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 51 with soprano Elizabeth Futral. Two recordings Mr. Cohen participated in with prominent Canadian ensembles were both nominated for the 2009 Juno awards: "Let the Bright Seraphim" with soprano Karina Gauvin and Tempo Rubato and his recording of Vivaldi's Gloria with Ensemble Caprice, the latter of which won the Juno award for Best Album of the Year in the vocal category. For the last several seasons, Mr. Cohen has been the solo baroque trumpeter for performances of Handel's Messiah at the National Cathedral under the direction of Michael McCarthy, as well as the Handel Choir of Baltimore under the direction of Melinda O'Neal. This season he will perform this annual masterpiece once again at the Cathedral, as well as with Tafelmusik in Toronto. In the fall of 2013, he toured the United States with Apollo's Fire under the direction of Jeanette Sorrell performing Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. Mr. Cohen received a M.M. from McGill University and a B.M. from the New England Conservatory of Music.

Josh Lee, viola da gamba & baroque bass, leads an eclectic musical life performing on viols, violoncello, double bass, and violone with some of the world's leaders in early music. Initially trained as a violinist, he began his studies in historical performance practice at the Peabody Conservatory of Music where he was a student of Ann Marie Morgan, Mark Cudek, and Webb Wiggins. As a collaborative artist he is a member of New Trinity Baroque, a founding member of the ensembles Concerto Incognito and Marley's Head, and has performed with the Washington Bach Consort, Olde Friends, Arcadia Players, and Hesperus. Aside from performing early music, Mr. Lee has appeared with such popular artists as The Cure, 10,000 Maniacs, REM, and late great Tammy Wynette in "unplugged" performances across the US. Also a dedicated educator, Mr. Lee has led educational residencies in inner city schools in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, as well as annual residencies in rural Kentucky. Now a resident of Atlanta, Joshua is on the faculty of the New School of Music where he teaches violin, 'cello, and double bass. Cited for his "stylish and soulful playing," Josh Lee performs on viols and double bass with some of the world's leaders in period music. Founder of Ostraka, Josh is a member of Musica Pacifica, Les Deélices, and The Two, and has performed with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Boston Early Music Festival, Orchester Wiener Akademie, CarMel Bach Festival and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His performances have been heard on Performance Today, Harmonia, and Österreichischen Rundfunk, and he has recorded for Dorian, Koch International, Magnatune, Bear Machine, and Reference Recordings.